Life As We Know It
by Spearbunny
Summary: When Lily makes a bet with her best friend, will life as she know it be turned upside down? Will she finally fall for James? who knows... my first fic. R&R please!
1. Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'

**Chapter 1:**  
Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'

* * *

Today sucks.

No, really, I mean it _sucks_.

How could this have happened! Today was supposed to be _my_ day! _Nothing_ was supposed to go wrong!

..Then i woke up...

That Morning

Lily Evans was lying in bed.

That's not to say that that's an out of the ordinary occurance in the morning for her, but today of all days, she really needed to wake up.

"Five more minutes, Mom..." she mumbled as she rolled out of bed, taking the majority of the bedding with her.

Then she remembered.

"OH MY GOD!"

The clock hanging on the wall seemed to mock her with its clicking, only to serve as a reminder of how little time she had left to board the Hogwarts Express.

"I can't be late! I'm Head Girl!"

She crashed around her room, checking that she had everything packed, making last-minute additions to her already overflowing, but neat, trunk. She pulled on some jeans and an emerald T-shirt, and pulled her dark red hair into a messy bun. She looked in the mirror.

"Guess this is as good as it's gonna get.. Hope he notices.."

Meanwhile

James Potter jolted up in bed, grinning. Today was the best day of his life as he knew it! Somehow he had been made Head Boy, and there was no doubt in his mind who the Head Girl was going to be. He threw on the first thing he could find and levitated his trunk into the fireplace.

"This is going to be a great year!"

Later

After like an hour waiting in the car, we finally pulled up to King's Cross with barely a minute to spare.

"Come _on_, Mom!"

Why must I be perpetually late! WHY!

"Oh, come now, Lily dearest, this way you won't have to see that _awful_ James Potter", she said, winking knowingly.

"_Mother_..."

She _knows_ how I feel about that boy. I HATE him! I do! Seriously! Nothing anybody says can make me change my mind about him! NOTHING AT ALL, I TELL YOU!

"Hey, Lily," an all-too-familiar voice said behind me. I melted inwardly immediately. "Need help with your trunk?"

I turned to see none other than the biggest, tallest, most handsome, talented, quidditch-playing, big-headed prat there was at Hogwarts.

"No, thank you, Potter, I'm more than capable of handling this _myself_."

I turned, meaning to take my trunk with me, but apparently there was so much stuff in there that it had decided of its own accord to stay right where it was.

I stumbled backwards, surprised by my trunk's lack of willingness to do _exactly_ what I wanted it to do. Fortunately (or not), I fell into someone.

"Yeah, sure, Lils. Here, let me take it for ya."

He grabbed my trunk, putting it as high up as he could on the luggage rack, so I'd have to ask for help to get it down. Then he left. Damn his height. He's nearly 6'2, while I'm stuck down here at 5'1. I hate being short. it undermines the sense of power I should feel when I look at someone. FEAR ME, LITTLE PEOPLE! FEAR ME!

...When I got out of my rather Slytherin-ish dominate-the-world fantasy, I went to find my friends, Rose and Violet. I was pleased to find them just in time for a quick life update before I had to go meet the Head Boy and talk to the Prefects and such. I was not so pleased to find them with my least favorite people on Earth besides Slytherins, the Marauders.

"Well, the last of the Flower Group! Glad you could join us!" Sirius said with a smirk. "James was missing you!"

Sirius, the second-tallest of the Marauders at 6'0, had long, luxurious black hair and dark gray eyes, straited with black.

James' clear hazel eyes flashed. "Whatever you say, Padfoot. Hey, Lily, isn't it time for us to go to the Prefect's compartment?"

"_You're_ Head Boy! I could have _sworn_ Dumbledore would pick Remus!"

Remus, the quiet, studious Marauder, looked up from the book he was reading. "Nope, the badge says James. I still have Prefect duties, though, so I guess I'm coming with you."

Remus came next in height, at about 5'10. He had sandy brownish hair and kind blue eyes. He stood up.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

"See you when we get back, Lily!" Rose said with a flick of her blond hair, her aqua eyes glowing as she leaned into Sirius.

"Yep, don't get into too much trouble with those two!" Violet said, her eyes for which she was named twinkling.

I groaned and pulled the compartment door closed. This was going to be a LONG year.


	2. The Feast

**Disclaimer:**I'm only doing this once. FANfiction.. self-explanitory.

**Chapter 2:**  
The Feast

* * *

I groaned and dragged my feet behind Potter and Remus. I wouldn't have minded just walking with Remus, but Potter just had to be there to screw everything up.

As always.

When we finally got to the Prefect compartment, it was apparent that they had been waiting for us to get there for quite awhile.

"What took you so long!" One of the fifth-year Slytherin prefects asked with a smirk. "We've been waiting for you for an hour!"

"Never mind," I said quickly, "but congratulations on becoming prefects! You are to lead your houses and help keep order."

"Becoming a prefect is a big responsibility", James said. "But in reward, you will get a separate bathroom and lounge. I assume you all know where they are?"

There was a general murmur of assent. The prefect bathroom and lounge location was well-known around the school, spread by, it's generally assumed, the four Marauders.

"kay, good. The password is-" he checked in an envelope in a stack that was labeled 'BR&L'-"chocolate frog." All right, let's give out the passwords. "Hufflepuff?"

A boy with blonde hair and watery blue eyes stepped forward.

"Ravenclaw?"

A tall brunette with glasses raised her hand hesitantly.

The next one he eyed with distaste, but overcame it when he saw the look on my face. "Slytherin?"

There was silence.

Severus Snape, batlike as always, stepped in and out of the compartment, pausing only long enough to grab the envelope and mutter, "I never thought I'd see the day when _you_ would be a Head, Potter."

By this time, I was noticing how much James really had grown up. Last year, he would not so much as touched the Slytherin envelope. I've never understood how he could be so prejudiced against the Slytherins. I mean, there are some that are really nasty, like Snape, but that doesn't mean that they all are, or that any of them are stupid.

James

I glanced at her in between giving out the passwords. I've never understood why she hates me so much, when she's so nice to everyone else. Even Snape. How she can tolerate him, with his constant stream of "mudblood", "filth", "don't deserve a place at this ancient school" and general bad-temperedness and rudeness towards her in general. Him and his Dark Arts. I've never been able to tolerate the Dark Arts at all. Any _mention_ of them and my wand is out and I'm in battle mode. I guess that's partly why she hates me.

An hour later, Lily and James were back in the compartment with their friends. There was only one problem.

"WHAT! HOW CAN THERE NOT BE ENOUGH SEATS!"

Even with Rose (who, Lily guessed, had hooked up with Sirius over the summer)sitting on Sirius's lap, there was only one empty seat left. Remus, with excellent foresight, had saved his seat with the book he was reading.

James, with reflexes born of five years on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, sat down, pulling Lily onto his lap and holding her there with an arm around her waist.

"Come on, Lils, we all fit now!"

Everyone in the compartment whose name was not Lily Evans or James Potter watched this display with amusement.

"Fine, _Potter_, but you owe me."

"Anything for you, my darling."

By this time, Lily was already getting fed up with his attempts, and he hadn't even asked her out yet.

"Lily, will you-"

"NO, Potter! for the hundred-and-twelfth time, NO!"

She tried to get up from his lap, but found his arms holding her there tight. With a resigned sigh, she surrendered. For the remainder of the trip, talking and laughing with her friends, Sirius, and Remus, she even snuggled into him a little before falling asleep with her head on his chest.

The Feast

Lily, James, Rose, Sirius, Violet, and Remus entered the Great Hall together. Finding seats, they sat down and started talking.

"Have you heard from Peter?" Remus asked Sirius and James. "I owled him at the beginning and end of the summer, but he never replied."

"We flooed over to visit once when we were bored," James said after swallowing an emormous emount of steak-and-kidney pie, "but his mum said something about an odd burn on his arm that was getting checked out at St Mungo's..."

Over where the girls were sitting, another sort of conversation was taking place. "Come on, Lil, tell us what's up! You swear on your sister that you hate James Potter, then you agree to sit on his lap the entire ride here! I don't want to hear any BS about how much of a big-headed git he is, because you know it isn't true. He's Head Boy, for God's sake!" Rose, always prone to making big speeches when she knows something's up.

"All right, he's not as bad as he used to be. But he's STILL a big-headed git! He's still a Marauder. And you know his reputation, he hasn't had a serious girlfriend since the summer before fourth year! And he broke up with her as soon as they entered the Great Hall for the Welcoming Feast! And-"

"Lily, you're babling." Vi, always the peacemaker. "You know he broke up with that particular girlfriend when he saw you glaring at him. You have to admit he's changed since fifth year. There's no way that boy that nearly took off Snape's pants by the lake could have made Head Boy. Or helped you with your luggage, for that matter."

"Yeah, Lils, I'll make a bet with you" Rose said, her eyes gleaming. "If you say yes to James the next time he asks you out, and you don't have a good time, I'll give you..." she rummaged in her pockets, "10 galleons. But if you do, you have to give me 5 galleons, and... kiss him at the end of the date. Are we on?"

Lily thought about it. The liklihood that she was going to have a good time on a date with- ugh- _James Potter_ was not very high. But then again, if she did, she didn't want to have to give up 5 galleons, and she _really_ didn't want to kiss- ugh- _James Potter_.

"All right, I'll do it," Lily said, surprising everyone, including herself. "I'll go on one bloody date with James-bloody-Potter, and I'll prove to you that I _do not_ like him. But I doubt he'll ask me out again." she finished.

"Why?" Rose and Violet asked simultaneously.

"Because." She pointed to where the Marauders were sitting. James appeared to be flirting with a sixth-year Ravenclaw girl. Then, the girl punched him in the nose so hard, they heard bone crack.

"Ouch..."


	3. Oh, What a Beautiful Day

**Chapter 3:**  
Oh, What a Beautiful Day

* * *

After the feast, Dumbledore stood up and clapped his hands. Silence was immediate. "Now that we're all finished, I have some announcements to make. First, I'd like to introduce our new Head Boy and Girl, James Potter and Lily Evans." The house tables- Slytherin excepted- roared with applause. "Now on another note, I'd like to remind you all that times are changing. Voldemort and his Death Eaters are growing stronger by the day. I'd like to remind each and every one of you that the rules in place at this school are made solely to keep you from harm. There will be no sneaking out of the school after dark, or going to Hogsmeade when you are not permitted to. This is to keep you out of the grasp of Voldemort."

Lily, Rose, and Violet exchanged glances. "I've never heard him speak this seriously at a welcoming feast before", Violet whispered. Rose and Lily shook their heads in agreement.

"Now please, go to your dormitories and sleep off this wonderful meal. I hope to see each and every one of you bright and early to class tomorrow!" With that note, Dumbledore sat down. The Great Hall emptied more quickly than it ever had before.

Lily felt herself being pulled back from the way out of the feast. She looked around curiously, and found herself standing with Dumbledore and Potter.

"This way, Miss Evans, Mr. Potter. You will have a separate dormitory, common room, and bathroom, though, of course, you will still be able to visit Gryffindor Tower whenever you choose.

"Follow me, please."

Dumbledore took off at a brisk pace, with Lily and James hurrying to keep up, though Lily more so than James, as she was more than a foot shorter than they were. It left no time for any conversation between the three of them.

They reached a blank patch of wall and stopped.

"This is the entrance to the Head's Dorms. The password, for now, is 'lemon drop', though you may change it as you see fit. Good night." With that, Dumbledore disappeared with a swirl of his cloak.

"Merlin's beard, am I the only one who thinks that's creepy? You're not even supposed to be able to apparate inside the castle!" James muttered, looking rather awed.

"Well, I guess there's one of the reasons he's the greatest wizard of our time," Lily replied. "And if you don't mind, I think it's time to go to bed. Night, James."

James looked at her retreating back in awe. "Sweet dreams, Lily." _She didn't call me Potter..._

The next morning, James woke up early and decided to go to one of his favorite places to just sit and think. He hadn't shared his secret room with anyone, though he thought that if he had the chance, he'd like to take Lily here.

_Yeah, if we ever have a first date, I'll bring her here afterword..._

He checked the watch Sirius had become fascinated with around the time of his seventeenth birthday ("Prongs! Look! It's what muggles put on their elbows to tell time!"), and found that it was nearly time to go to breakfast. He jogged back to the Head's rooms to get his bag and started to breakfast.

* * *

**A/N:**

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I just wanted to show you something my idiot friend wrote:

"Once upon a time, there lived a giant squid and some guy with luxurious hair. Said guy was walking along the edge of the lake outside Hogwarts when the giant squid reached out with a tentacle and pulled him into the lake. The squid proceeded to eat the guy with nice hair alive. They lived happily ever after."

She should become a writer, no?

And here's a sequel:

" I was kidding last time. The squid didn't eat Sirius. Instead, they enjoyed candle-lit dinners and long nights staring at the stars in the lake. Their relationship failed, however, when Sirius decided he had enough wrinkles on his fingers and left the lake forever. The squid was crushed and quite depressed. It drowned itself out of anguish."

Hope to update soon!


	4. Was that a yes?

**Chapter 4:**  
Was that a.. Yes?

* * *

Lily woke up. 

She groaned and fell back asleep seconds later.

She woke up again, galnced at the clock, started down the stairs, raced back up the stairs, put on her uniform, and nearly flew to breakfast.

By the time she got there, her friends were sitting by the Marauders again. _Honestly, just because Rose and Sirius..._

The only empty seat left at the Gryffindor table was next to James. Lily was starting to feel that the world was conspiring against her.

As soon as she sat down-

"Hey Lil, there's a Hogsmeade weekend next week. Go with me?"

Rose and Violet looked over, amused.

"Potter-"

She sighed and glared at her two friends. "All right, I'll go with you. Just-"

She was cut of by James shouting in triumph and jumping up and down in what appeared to be a celebratory dance.

"Wait, Lily, are you serious? Hundred and thirteenth time lucky, huh?"

She grinned. "Guess so, Pot- James."

He kissed her cheek, she blushed slightly, then Sirius engaged James in a debate over chocolate frogs, sugar quills, and dungbombs. Lily would never understand their behavior sometimes...

"You know what this means, right, Lily?" Rose asked, looking like Christmas had come early. "I'm going to be the proud winner of 5 galleons and you get to kiss the one-and-only James Potter!"

"Ugh... I'm not going to kiss him, and I'm not going to have to owe you anything. He's still the bigheaded, self-centered, bullying prat he's always been. I'm _not_ going to have a good time on this date. I'm NOT."

"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, Lils..."

"Well, with an attitude like that, you surely won't." Violet interjected. "He's changed, Lily. Everyone else can see it. Just open your eyes to what's right in front of you."

James

I was sure I was dreaming.

I actually pinched myself several times to make sure I was wide awake, then had Moony and Padfoot each pinch me a few times, too.

There are now several bruises on my arms, each a tribute to the fact that Lily had at last said yes to me.

A tribute to that, and perhaps to my inability to believe it. I couldn't believe the girl I'd chased after for so long had finally agreed to a date. A Date! In Hogsmeade!

"Prongs, _you aren't dreaming. Stop pinching yourself._"

I looked up to see Moony staring at me like I had suddenly turned into something from another planet when I realized that neither Padfoot nor I had stopped pinching my arm.

Sirius had actually broken the skin, and somehow jinxed it so that the small bruise that results frombeing pinched hardwas growing, slowly spreading up my arm and onto my neck.

Sirius was in a state of shock. "MOONY! DO SOMETHING! PRONGS IS GOING TO DIE!"

"Padfoot, you jinxed him. you should remember the counterjinx."

"Prongs is going to die!" With that last happy note, Sirius bound, gagged, and blindfolded me (why the gag and blindfolds, only Sirius could tell you), and I felt myself flying, hopefully bound for somewhere that would stop the bruising. It HURT...

Where the girls were sitting...

"Lily, I think James has gone insane." Rose muttered, watching this display. "He's staring into space, allowing Sirius to pinch and jinx him as he pleases, and we all know that's not a good thing."

Lily laughed. "Making fun of your own boyfriend?"

"No, well, yes, butLOOK!"

Lily looked at the boy next to her. He was indeed staring off into space with a happy, glazed look on his face, pinching himself and allowing Sirius to gleefully do the same. Sirius pulled out his wand and muttered something under his breath.

"Think we should stop them?" Rose asked before biting into her toast.

"Nah..."

Later

"Sorry we're late, Professor," James gasped. "Hospital Wing..."

Slughorn chuckled. "Not to worry, James, m'boy! just sit down and I'm sure... Ms Evans will explain the assignment to you."

James grinned. Lily, surprising herself, felt butterflies in her stomach. She bade them to go away. _You remember when you firstsaw him on the train..._

She battled with herself.

I was just... Confused! Yes, I was confused!

_Stop kidding yourself._

I'm not!

_Sure._

"So, Lils, what are we supposed to be doing?"

She snapped out of her argument with- herself- and explained. "We're supposed to be in the first stage of making a Polyjuice Potion. Slughorn said it would be our first big project of the year, and at the end, we'll all donate a hair and will turn into a random person and have to act like them for the rest of the hour."

"Wow, The Slug does have good ideas sometimes! Maybe I should go to one of his parties once in a while."

Lily smiled. "They aren't really that bad, provided you don't insult Slytherins. He doesn't favor them, but it was his house, you know."

"Now that I think ofhim that way, he's not bad, for a Slytherin. I guess McGonnagall's the same way."

After Classes

Lily retired to the Head's Dorms after classes. It had been a long first day back. The teachers hadn't held back at all when it came to homework, and already she had four feet to write on the uses of the Polyjuice Potion, several complex charts to complete and memorize for Arithmancy, and practice for Ttransfiguration. Now, Lily wasn't bad at any of her classes, but if she had to pick her worst subject, it would be Transfiguration. she was only -gasp- _second_ in her class, behind James. Now that they could manage civil conversations without trying to kill each other, she didn't mindnearly as much.

She didn't mind at all, really. He was growing up at last. _Finally..._

She decided to get a head start on her work, and was busy changing a chair into a pig and back when James got back from Quidditch practice, looking as if he'd just gotten off a broom.

Which, she reminded herself, he probably had. _Hereally isadorable.._ She shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts. He might be adorable, and she might be going on a date with him, but that definitely did not mean that she was going to start liking him. And she was most definitely _not_ going to be his girlfriend.

"Hi, Lily. Working on that already, eh?"

"Quidditch your first day back?"

He grinned. "I'm Captain. I say it's never too early to start training! We need to work hard if we're going to win. It's my last year, I want to leave some kind of legacy."

"Other than your notorious reputation for pranks?"

He laughed. "That's not my legacy, that's the Marauder legacy. I want something that's just my own, you know?"

She looked at him and nodded slowly. "I think we all do."

Moving On

The days up to the Hogsmeade trip closed in fast. The seventh years, especially Lily and James, had so much work to do there was hardly any time to do anything else. Remus could even be seen getting Sirius to open a book.

"No, Moony, no! The little bookworms will come out and eat me! I'm not immune to them like you are! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Erm, _attempting_ to get Sirius to open a book.

"Sirius, how the hell are worms going to eat you! Bookworms eat _books_, not people. Especially not people who are also dogs."

"SAVE ME FROM THE BOOKWORMS!"

Remus looked at James pathetically. "Well, you can't say I didn't try..."

James nodded. Then he lit up. "Hey, I have an idea..."

He went to get Rose, Violet, and Lily. "Do you want to come study with us? Sirius could really use the inspiration."

"Sure," said Lily, surprising them all. "Just give us a minute."

After he left, Rose decided to change their bet around a little. "Lil, I'll give you 20 galleons if you can go out withhim for a month. If you break up before then, you have to give me 15. Sound good to you?"

Lily thought about it. It would be nice to have some extra cash, and dating James for a month would just be a bonus-

No. She could endure James for a month for the sake of the 20 galleons.

"I'll do it. We go to Hogsmeade tomorrow, and- Oh my god! Hogsmeade! I haven't thought about anything! What am I going to-"

Rose cut her off. "Don't worry, Vi and I will help. Now, let's go visit our favorite group of people."

"Speak for yourself..." Lily mumbled.

They went down to join the guys, where Sirius was bouncing off the walls screaming something about bookworms out to eat him. Rose went over to calm him down and they ended up leaving the portrait hole, presumably to find a broom closet.

"Well, at least he isn't screaming about bookworms any more," Remus observed.

"Good thing too, I guess it'll just be the four of us in this study group." James said as he pulled out a chair, helped Lily into it, and took a seat next to her.

Violet looked at them. "They're so perfect for each other." she said under her breath to Remus.

He grinned. "James thinks so too. If only we could get Lily to see it.. I bet they could be Hogwarts' best couple."

Vi stared at him with her penatrating purple eyes. "I just had a thought... When Sirius and Rose come back, let's leave with them and go to the library."

As if on cue, Rose and Sirius entered the Common Room hand in hand. Remus and Violet stood up and dragged them right back out.

* * *

**A/N:** In an attempt to write longer chapters, I'm probably going to update less often. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!


	5. Hogsmeade

**Chapter 5:  
**Hogsmeade

It was the day of the Hogsmeade trip.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Lily, quite obviously, was in a state of panic.

"Oh my God, what am I going to wear? What if my hair gets messed up in the wind? What if James gets bored with me and goes off to snog some other girl? What if-"

She continued to move her mouth, but no sound was coming out, thanks to Rose and her silencing charm.

Violet looked relieved. "Lily, don't worry. James has liked you for too long to give up on you because he doesn't like your shirt or your hair. You don't have to make any commitment. It's just one date."

Lily appeared to have relaxed, though she was still muttering under her breath.

"Now." Rose stated. "We are going to prepare you for this date. And you are not going to question it. You are to submit to our superior judgment. Is that clear?"

"As mud", Lily muttered. Rose smacked her arm. "Ow! It's clear, it's clear!"

"Just what I thought." Rose said, grinning. "We'll make you perfect…"

By the time they were done, Lily was wearing clothes there was no way she'd have picked out for herself. "What did you do to me! I look like some kind of-"

"James will love her, won't he, Vi? It's almost time for your date, dear Lily, so I suggest you go down to the common room and meet him." Rose said, winking.

"I hate you." Lily muttered all the way through her long, excruciating eight steps to the common room. "I despise you, I detest you, I abhor you, I vilify, abominate, execrate…"

While Lily was becoming a thesaurus, James was waiting impatiently in the Common Room for her. "Do you think she backed out? What if she got a date with another guy? What if she finds me utterly and hideously replusive?" He stopped for a look at his friend. "Put that wand away, Padfoot, I'll shut up now."

At that moment, Lily entered the Common Room, wearing an emerald green tank top and miniskirt.

"You look... amazing..." James stuttered, his eyes bugging out beneath his glasses.

Lily blushed and smiled at him. "Thanks, James."

He blushed a little himself and pulled out a small boquet of lilies from behind his back. "Here, these are for you."

She thanked him with a kiss on the cheek. "They're beautiful."

Violet and Remus were watching their friends from the other side of the Common Room. "Looks like that bet really worked out," muttered Remus, who had been filled in the previous night in the library.

Violet grinned. "Yep!" she said happily. "Looks like Rose is going to lose 20 galleons in a month."

"Won't she be pleased? It's all going to a good cause!"

Violet laughed. "The Lily/James fund!"

They headed out the portrait hole, and Remus put his arm around her shoulders. "Looks like we're going to be spending the rest of the day together."

Vi smiled and snuggled into him. She and Remus headed out of the castle, The Lily/James Fund second on their minds.

In Hogsmeade

Rose was being dragged into Zonko's.

That's not to say that she was putting up a fight, or that she didn't want to go, but in case Lily or Violet asked her later, she was completely unwilling and Sirius had made her go.

"Come on, Sirius! We have to get there soon or the place will be packed!"

Sirius, behind her, was panting. "Slow down! You know I love you, but you're going to be the death of me someday."

Rose laughed. "Nobody ever died of walking too fast, moron."

Sirius grinned. "Well, we'll have to do something about that, won't we?" He picked her up, threw her over his shoulder, spun her around a few times,and set off walking at a normal pace the remaining five feet to the door of the shop, which was, indeed, packed, as Rose had predicted.

"Aww, man..."

When they got out, Sirius decided to go to the Shrieking Shack. Rose agreed, but only if they could go to Madam Malkin's afterward. She didn't actually like the place, but she reasoned that Sirius was only going to the Shrieking Shack to take advantage of her perpetual fear, even after six years at Hogwarts, of ghosts. If Sirius was going to make her suffer, she couldn't just sit back and do nothing, could she?

Meanwhile, Lily and James were enjoying a pleasant conversation at the Three Broomsticks.

Granted, this conversation consisted mainly of family, what they planned to do after Hogwarts, and basically anything polite that had absolutely no actual conversational value. James got an idea.

"Hey, Lil, do you want to do something fun?" She agreed. "Let's go scare Rose and Sirius."

She laughed. "How?"

He pulled out a silvery cloak. Lily gasped. "Is that...?"

He nodded. "An Invisibility Cloak. I know for a fact that Sirius is planning to take Rose to the Shrieking Shack, but only after they went to Zonko's. Sirius always spends," he checked his watch," twenty minutes and thirty-six seconds inside Zonko's. I estimate he's been in there for about fifteen, so if we leave now, we can get there and really spook them."

Lily nodded hesitantly. "Let's go!"

They left the Three Broomsticks arm in arm, discussing the ways to scare Sirius, and, especially, Rose.

"She's afraid of ghosts, and will pretty much scream at any sign of the supernatural. She used to scream at Nearly Headless Nick." Lily filled James in to the odd habits of her pureblooded friend.

James' eyes gleamed. "Sirius doesn't believe that the Shack is haunted, but it'll beamusing seeing how long it takes him to connect the dots."

She punched his arm lightly. About a block from the Shrieking Shack, James stopped abruptly. "Under here now, I think I hear them coming."

Indeed, there was a girl screaming in the distance. "SIRIUS!"

"Yep, that's definitely them." James pulled the invisibility cloak over himself and Lily, savoring for a moment how close they were. "We better get going..."

They got to the Shrieking Shack a couple minutes before Rose and Sirius. James occupied that time holding Lily close to him and rocking her back and forth. Lily, of course, put this off as the unusually cold 70-degree weather. She snuggled close to him. After all, she reasoned to herself, it was rather cold...

After a long while, Sirius and Rose walked up the path to the Shrieking Shack, their lips swollen. Lily and James raised an eyebrow simultaneously. "Guess we don't have to ask what they've been up to." James remarked to Lily in a whisper.

She giggled. "And Rose was always such a nice girl. Look what he's done to her!"

He smiled that trademark lopsided grin. "What should we do to them?"

She smiled the smile only used when plotting to dominate the world. "Wasn't he screaming something about bookworms earlier?"...

Sirius and Rose were walking up the path to the Shrieking Shack hand in hand.

"All right!" Rose all but shouted, hysterically. "We've come. We've seen the shack. Now can we go somewhere safe!"

"Of course not!" Sirius grinned. He found her fear of ghosts far too amusing.

Rose knew she never should have told him she was afraid of ghosts.

Sirius glanced up at the old house in front of them. "We're here... OH MY GOD! IS THAT A BOOK!"

Rose looked up, disconcerted. A book was, indeed, floating in midair. She vaugely remembered Lily ranting to her once about how James got around the school in his invisibility cloak. She grinned inwardly. Sirius's plan seemed to backfire on him.

"Siiiiiiiiriuuuuuuuus Blaaaaaaaaaack... Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuuuuuuuuuuuussss Blaaaaaaaaaaaaack..." There appeared to be a large worm that resembled a dragon coming out of the book. Lily was currently excersizing a lot of self-control not to burst out laughing. She put a silencing charm on herself, just in case. _Thank Merlin for non-verbal spells..._

Sirius screamed. Rose doubted her voice went as high as Sirius's did at that moment. He threw her over his shoulder (again, she thought with a resigned sigh) and ran down the path that went away from the Shack as far as his legs could carry him. He ran all the way past the carriages to the school, reversed direction without stopping, and plunged himself and Rose into one faster, Rose thought, than was humanly possible. And she was so hoping to go to Madam Malkin's...

James and Lily (who had taken the silencing charm off herself) were nearly rolling on the ground crying, they were laughing so hard. "And we though Rose would be the one that was scared!" James gasped.

Lily, if possible, laughed even harder. "She knew what was going on! I could see it in her eyes!" She laughed a bit more. "She wanted Sirius to go insane!"

They laughed for another few seconds before getting up and dusting themselves off. James looked at his watch. "I guess we better be getting back to the castle. There's somewhere else I want to go before this date is over..."

While Sirius was getting frightened by bookworms, Violet and Remus were sitting at a table in the Three Broomsticks. "Vi, do you want to go for a walk?" Well, I guess not for long.

"Sure."

They started strolling around Hogsmeade. Having better sense than Lily (or rather, the person who dressed Lily), they had worn warm clothing and felt no need to cuddle. They stopped at a bench and sat down, just enjoying each other's company, before Remus broke the silence.

"I know you could hardly call this a date, but I really did have fun today."

She smiled at him. "I did too."

Wanting to break the overused next part of the scene where Remus stutters into asking her out, she blushes and says yes, and they snog each other senseless, Violet skips ahead.

She kissed him timidly. He stiffened for a moment before relaxing and pulling her closer. They kissed for a few seconds before he pulled away.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'?"

She laughed, and they got back to their previous activity.

James pulled Lily through one of the many secret passages that riddled Hogwarts. "Just a bit further... Yes, we're nearly there."

They entered a room with a vaulted ceiling, enormous windows, a merrily crackling fireplace, candlelit dinner, and loveseat. Lily gazed openmouthed at it all. She then turned her attention to James. "How.. how did you find this place?"

He smiled, not his lopsided smirk, but a genuine, happy smile that gave her the feeling it had more to do with his company than their location. "Wrong turn fromQuidditch practice second year."

They sat down to a remarkable dinner of anything they asked for. Lily had always liked pasta, so she ordered that in no short supply. James laughed at her until she pointed out how many chocolate frog wrappers sat on his plate.

"What? They're GOOD!"

She laughed at his childlike tendency to choose candy over anything else. Then again, she pointed out to herself, if she had realized she could have eaten nothing but chocolate frogs for dinner...

After they finished, they moved to the loveseat in front of the fire, that was almost down to the embers. They discussed life, politics, careers after Hogwarts, and most of all, the prank they had played on Sirius earlier that day.

The fire was dying down, and the sunlight (or lack therof) coming out of the windows convinced them that they needed to get back to their dormitory. If they were caught, they had a reasonable excuse. Patrol duty.

Once inside the Head's Dorms, James kissed Lily's cheek. "Night, Lils."

"Wait," Lily said suddenly. He looked at her hesitantly.

She pulled on his collar so that his head was down at her level. She looked into his eyes for a moment before closing her own and pulling him into a kiss.

James was, to say the very least, startled. If you wanted to qualify for the understatement of the millenium. But, he reasoned, this may happen only once, so might as well enjoy it.

After a few moments, they broke apart, flushed. Lily smiled and walked to her room. "Night, James."

He stared back, unable to believe that had just happened. "Night, Lils."

He was able to retrain the urge to pinch himself the five seconds it took to get into his dorm.


	6. Life Works in Unexpected Ways

**Chapter 6:  
**Life works in unexpected ways

* * *

The day after the Hogsmeade trip, being a Sunday, Lily had the chance to sleep in.

Of course, as soon as she woke up, she put a silencing charm on her door and screamed before running to Gryffindor Tower to talk to Rose and Violet.

James, (of course), was already in the Common Room, talking to Remus. Sirius, it seemed, was _not_ a morning person.

"Hey, Lily, can I talk-"

She ran past him so fast his words didn't register till she'd reached the top of the stairs. He didn't believe it was humanly possible for anyone to move that fast. But, he reasoned, if Sirius could do it, Lily could a million times faster.

After registering James's words and convincing herself he had just wanted to ask for help with the Charms assignment, she gasped out two words. "Violet... Rose..."

Rose looked up groggily before turning over and putting her pillow over her head. She was less of a morning person than even Lily was. "Can't we talk about this at a reasonable hour?" She asked, her voice muffled by her pillow. Violet and Lily looked at each other. Violet held up three fingers. Lily nodded.

"One, two, THREE!"

Lily and Violet pulled the blankets and pillows off Rose. She shrieked, much like Sirius had in the "bookworm incident" of the day before, though not nearly as high. "Fine, FINE. I'll get up!" She stomped into the bathroom and returned a minute later, looking slightly better.

"So, Lily, why did youwaltz up here at this unglodly hour as if you had not a care in the world?" Rose asked casually. She was known for her sarcasm.

Lily glared. "I... I thought we could just share what happened yesterday with each other", she said lamely.

Violet quirked an eyebrow, but submitted. "I spent the day with Remus, seeing as you two had dates. Spent most of the time in the Three Broomsticks, just talking. Then we went for a walk, and he asked me out." She finished, blushing a little bit.

"I always knew you had a thing for Remus." Lily smirked.

"Well, she did make it kind of obvious. I guess he wasn't much better, though," Rose added quickly.

Vi laughed, blushed, and rolled her eyes. "Fine, turn this into a make-fun-of-Violet quest. What happened with you and Sirius?" She said, directing the question to Rose.

"Well, he started off by dragging me into Zonko's, of all places, and-" she cut off as Violet and Lily snorted.

"He dragged you? James and I saw you out the window of the Three Broomsticks, and it looked to us as if it were more the other way around."

Rose sighed. "Fine, we started off by mutually agreeing to go to Zonko's, but when we got there the place was packed, so we only got out with about 25 dungbombs, sixteen boxes of hiccup sweets, and thirty pounds of frog spawn soap."

Lily and Violet stared at her.

"Each."

They blinked.

"Then Sirius wanted to go to the Shrieking Shack. I should've known not to tell him I was afraid of ghosts. I said fine, but only if we went to Madam Malkin's afterwards."

Violet blinked. "But you said, and I quote, 'I completely and utterly detest that frilly, prancy little place! If I ever want to go there, be sure to throw me off the astronomy tower.'"

Rose coughed. "Exaggeration... anyway, we went to the Shrieking Shack, and there we met some unlikely things."

"What?"

"A book, floating in midair, and a bookworm that resembled a lizard coming out of it, calling Sirius's name."

Lily tried her best to look innocent. "I wonder how that could have happened."

Rose started laughing. "Head Boy and Girl, honestly, I hope next year Dumbledore chooses people with some sense."

Lily threw a pillow at her. A few moments later, a full-blown pillow fight broke out, filling the dorm with feathers. "But Lily, dearest," Rose said with a wicked grin, "You haven't told us yet about your datewith the one-and-only James Potter, who you love oh-so-very-much."

Lily, maturely, stuck her tounge out at Rose. "We were in the Three Broomsticks some of the time. Then James had this idea to scare you and Sirius out of your wits, so we went up to the Shack and created the aforesaid book/bookworm illusion. We were going to do a ghost next, if somehow Sirius figured out that it was just us with the cloak."

Rose grinned, proud of herself. "But he didn't! I did! Go me!"

Violet and Lily laughed. Then Lily continued, "After that, we went back to the castle. James took me to this amazing room I'd never been to before, and we had dinner and talked and stuff till we went back to our dorm."

Rose and Violet seemed to digest this, then Rose smiled a smile rivaling Lily's dominate-the-world ones. "You're leaving something out. I can tell."

Lily sighed. "I hate you. Once we got back to our Common Room, I kissed him. Happy?"

Even Violet, the sweet, innocent, quiet pacifist, seemed to have an evil grin at that moment. Lily turned bright red and hid in a pillow.

"So, when he asks you out, you're going to date him for a month, at the very very very least, am I right?" Rose asked.

Lily sighed. "I will."

Downstairs, the Marauders were having a similar conversation.

"THAT WAS YOU! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sirius chased James around the common room several times, until he borrowed a bit of common sense from a passing first year.

"Petrificus totalis!" James fell over forward. Sirius put the tickling jinx on him for a few minutes, then took both jinxes off. "No more scary bookworms?"

James worked hard to keep a straight face as he nodded. "No more scary bookworms."

"Wait, Prongs," Remus said slowly from the other side of the room. "I have a feeling something's left out."

James just grinned, "C'mon, mate, I don't kiss and tell..." Then skipped up the steps to the "Marauder's Dorm".

Sirius and Remus stared at his back long after he was out of sight. "He must be delusional."

The Marauders and "The Flower Gang" entered the common room for lunch at about the same time. Sirius and Remus kissed Rose and Violet, but James pulled Lily back. "Lily, can I talk to you for a second?"

Her breath caught in her throat. "Sure..."

He pulled her back into the common room as the others left. He raked his fingers nervously through his hair before asking, "Will you... will you go out with me?"

Lily smiled. "Of course." He looked into her eyes and couldn't help but to smile back. He picked her up (the height difference would have made bending down rather uncomfortable) and started kissing her when they were interrupted by a slight cough.

Rose grinned at Lily. "We were wondering why you two didn't come to lunch, are you official now?"

James rested one arm on top of Lily's head, pulling her close to him with the other. "What do you think?"

Rose squealed almost, but not quite, the same pitch Sirius had after the bookworm display. His voice still might be slightly higher, Lily thought. This disturbed her. After swearing eternal hatred for James for six years, she herself would have believed that bookworm was real before believing she would ever go out with James Potter. And yet, here she was, just happy to be in his arms. Life turns out in unexpected ways sometimes...

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love you all!

This might be my last post before school starts Monday. Due to unforseen circumstances (cough procrastination cough), I'll have to do all my summer work in this time. Please don't blame me if I can't get another chapter up till after school starts. Remember to review! I can always use the extra help.


	7. Devious Revenge

Chapter name: For Becca

**Chapter 7:  
**Devious Revenge

Rose smiled as she walked out of the classroom with Sirius.

They had come up with a plan to get back at James and Lily for their little stunt with the bookworms. Sirius was especially wrathful.

"BOOKS! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"

Rose let out something between a laugh and a sigh, and waited for Sirius to leave his current state of insanity.

Not that he ever did completely.

She was beginning to wonder if he was merely enjoying all the extra attention the bookworm-a-phobia was giving him. Everyone in the hallways was staring at him strangely, before glancing at her as if wondering why she associated with such a person.

She was beginning to wonder why herself.

Then he dragged her into a broom closet, his excuse being there wouldn't be any books there.

After finishing their normal broom-closet activities, they double-checked that the door was locked, then continued their plans for revenge.

Meanwhile, Lily was taking around a new student from America. Miami, to be exact. Although she and the new girl looked nothing alike, Lily had the comforting and unnerving impression that she'd found her long-lost identical twin. She found herself telling her everything about the bet, and how she felt about James. The American girl seemed to understand perfectly. She told Lily about a love/hate romance of her own that had just broken off a few weeks before her family moved to Scotland. After the tour, they sat and talked for a long time under the beech tree by the lake, until they were discovered by James.

"Lily! We were all wondering where you were! I don't believe I've met you," James directed at the new girl, "But Dumbledore told me to find Lily and bring her and..." His face took on a look as if trying to remember something odd. "K-something?"

"Keilani."

"Ah yes! Keilani! Weird name. Anyway, he wants to see both of you in his office ASAP."

Keilani, the new girl, looked disgruntled. She sighed. "It's Hawaiian. It means 'heavenly child' or something."

James nodded. "In any case, vamoose!" He put his arm around Lily and guided her up towards the castle. Keilani followed them unknowingly into Rose's and Sirius's trap.

Violet and Remus were studying together.

They were interrupted by a great deal of noise just outside the library, followed by what sounded like Rose shushing Sirius and pulling him, unwillingly, inside. Rose spotted them and walked over, pulling a whimpering Sirius along. Rose, though she was only 5'4, could be pretty intimidating when she wanted to be.

"Books... Bookworms... Don't let them get me... DON'T LET THEM GET ME!"

"SHUT UP, SIRIUS! Do you want Pince to come over here?"

Indeed, the librarian had been watching them, her eyes narrowed, hawklike. This silenced Sirius for the time being.

"Vi, Rem, we need your help with something. Or, more specifically, we need your knowledge to help us with something."

Remus looked slightly amused. "Would this have anything to do with the prank Lily and James played at Hogsmeade?"

Rose nodded emphatically. "Exactly! We don't know what to do!"

Violet raised an eyebrow. "Rose, if I know you at all, and I do, you have something remarkably devious planned out in that lovely innocent head of yours, but have no idea how to execute it. Am I correct?"

Rose flicked her hair out of the way and grinned. "Only one out of three, I'm afraid. Not at all up to your usual standard. Perhaps you'd better study more for the next quiz."

Violet grinned. "Three?"

"I do have something remarkably devious planned, but my head is certainly not innocent, and I know perfectly well how I'm going to put this plot into action. What I need is..." She looked between Violet and Remus. "Decoys. Please?"

After a great deal of persuasion, bribes, threats, and promises of Honeydukes' chocolate, Violet and Remus had reluctantly agreed to act as decoys.

"This better not backfire", Remus grumbled. "If you don't give that ten boxes of chocolate every Hogsmeade weekend like you said..."

Sirius coughed, after returning to his average state of sanity. "C'mon, Moony, old pal, you know we'd never cheat you!"

Remus looked at him for a moment, then turned to Violet. "Let's run while we have the chance."

Vi laughed. She knew as well as he did that they both wanted to see the looks on their faces.

Sirius suddenly stopped. "My Prongs-o-meter is tinging!"

Everyone grew quiet, and they could hear the distant sound of Lily and James', as well as another person's, voices and laughter.

"ACCIO INVISIBILITY CLOAK!"

The cloak flew into Rose's hands. She threw it over herself and Sirius, then pushed the other two forward. "Go!"

They looked at each other, shrugged, linked hands, and put on a show of strolling through the corridor together.

"Violet! Remus! New kid!"

James, Lily, and Keilani walked toward them. "Violet, Remus, Keilani, vice versa. Now we're all acquainted. We have to take Keilani to Dumbledore to get sorted and stuff. Catch up later!" James finished, waving.

Remus and Violet looked at each other.

"Wait a second. What did you say her name was?"

Keilani sighed yet again. "KEILANI. K-E-I-L-A-N-I. Hawaiian. Has anyone ever learned to say my name right? I'm the Skittle Queen of Keilaniland! You'd think people would know my-"

Just then, one large balloon hovered over all their heads almost ominously. It started drifting down towards them in such an innocent manner that under the invisibility cloak, Sirius was having a hard time not running over to play with it. Keilani, on the other hand, though an excellent therapist...

"BALLOON! YAY!"

She reached up to touch it. As soon as she did...

POP.

They all looked at each other, puzzled. They knew something must have come out of the balloon, but they couldn't see anything. They shrugged and continued on the way to Dumbledore.

Meanwhile...

Rose and Sirius were rolling on the floor, laughing so hard the former found it necessary to put a silencing charm over the both of them. "Did you see their" -gasp- "faces! I could die!" They continued in their silent laughter for some time, until they abruptly stopped simultaneously.

"We have to stop doing that..."

The five others continued on their way to Dumbledore. Luckily for them, most students were at dinner. The ones who weren't looked at them strangely as they passed. Keilani was the only one who really noticed, however, because the couples were far too busy acting, as she described to herself, couple-y.

When they arrived at the gargoyle that stood at the entrance to Dumbledore's office, they all looked at James. "Um... Chocolate Frog? Lemon Drop? Caldron Cake?"

The gargoyle leapt aside, and they walked up the enormous spiral staircase.

Dumbledore started speaking while looking into a huge stone bowl. "Ah, Keilani, I believe. I hope Ms Evans has shown you the way around?"

"Yes, sir."

"Right then. All you need now is..." He looked up. "Merlin's beard. What happened to you?"

The five teenagers looked at each other. Now that he mentioned it, they did start noticing something about each other...

"SIRIUS!"

They were covered in orange, gooey hair everywhere except where hair was supposed to be, namely their heads, eyebrows, and lashes. There, the skin was purple. They were also about half their normal height.

Lily was furious. "Forget Sirius. You think he had the brainpower to think of this!"

There was a general consensus.

Dumbledore looked amused. "I'll just get rid of this..." he waved his wand, "And as I was saying, Keilani, you need to be sorted. Just put this hat on your head and wait until it says a house name."

She eyed the hat warily. "It looks like it'll swallow me whole..."

Dumbledore chuckled and placed it on her head. A moment later...

"GRYFFINDOR!"

**A/N: Hola. Sorry it's taken so long. School, and Ernesto... Keep the reviews coming!**

**Skittle Queen: You're psychotic. get over it.**

**Becca: a chapter with devious in the title. Show Kim?**


	8. Trouble in Paradise

**Chapter 8:  
**Trouble in Paradise

About a week had passed since Lily had said yes to James.

She was beginning to worry about what would happen if he found out about her bet with Rose.

Not, of course, that she regretted making it, she simply felt guilty about using James as the center of it.

Yeah, she really, really, REALLY regretted ever making that stupid bet.

She sat in her dorm, finishing her homework, contemplating. She could tell Rose the bet was off, but then she'd have to pay and explain to James why she paid Rose twenty galleons for no apparent reason.

But then she wouldn't be able to win. And despite everything, Lily had an extremely stubborn, competitive streak. She wanted to stay with James for a long time, and unless something strange happened, she would definitely win the bet easily. The only thing she felt guilty about was being paid for it.

She was about to get up to tell Rose the bet was off, when there was a knock at her window.

"Psst! Lily!"

"...James? What are you doing here?" She opened the window, and he stepped inside.

He grinned his trademark lopsided grin. "It was the only way I could think to get into the girls' dorms. Come on, let's go!"

"Go where?"

He smiled at her again. "You'll see..."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her, not towards the door as she had expected, but towards the now-open window. She followed him with only _slight_ apprehension.

"JAMES! The ROOF!"

He looked back at her shrewedly. "You aren't scared, are you, great and glorious head girl?"

Lily groaned. She hated her competitive side. She bowed. "Of course not, brave, courageous head boy. Lead the way through the dark and dangerous unknown."

James laughed. They stepped out onto the roof, which had been turned into a magnificent marble stairway up to something Lily couldn't quite see. James put his hands over her eyes and led her all the way up.

When they finally reached the top, James took his hand off her eyes, and Lily gasped. It looked like a room made of clouds. She grinned at James and started using the floor as a trampoline. He watched her for a few minutes, then joined in the bouncing.

After a few more minutes of various childlike tricks, James pulled Lily to a stop. They looked at each other for a moment before James leaned over and kissed her. They stood like that for a few moments before pulling away. James cleared his throat. "I wanted to make up for the Hogsmeade day we spent pranking Sirius."

Lily laughed. "You don't have to. That was probably the best time in Hogsmeade I'd ever had."

"Well, I've wanted to do this for a long time, and I needed an excuse."

James flicked his wand, causing a fully set table and chairs, complete with a menu, appeared. He ushered her into one of the chairs, and sat in the other one. "Tell your plate whatever you want, even if it isn't on the menu. Those are just for decoration."

She ordered chicken and pasta. He ordered steak and fries. They dined together for a while, just enjoying each other's company. After a while they retired to the cloudy couch James found (or conjured) on the other side of the cloud-room. The longer Lily spent with James, the more guilty she felt. She really needed to tell Rose to cancel the bet.

"James..."

He kissed her forehead. "Yes, love?"

Her heart jumped. "I'm really sorry..."

James felt suddenly cold. "Sorry for what?"

She felt inexplicably drowsy. "I need to tell Rose... Tell Rose to cancel the bet..." She drifted off to sleep.

James was mildly confused. "What bet?" he wondered aloud. When he saw Lily asleep, he picked her up, carried her down to her dorm, and tucked her into bed. She shivered and turned over for a minute, then relaxed. Her breathing became deep and even. James sighed. He wondered if the bet she mentioned had anything to do with him. He dismissed the thought as soon as it came. Lily wasn't that sort of person.

Was she?

James walked to the steps that led to the Common Room, then slid down the inevitable stone slide.

He looked around. Sirius and Rose were nowhere in sight, but Violet and Remus were studying together in a corner. He walked over to them.

"Do either of you know anything about a bet Rose made with Lily?"

Violet looked uncomfortable. "Maybe... why?"

"She said she wanted to tell Rose the bet was off. Just before she fell asleep. I didn't want to wake her up to ask."

Violet looked almost relieved. "Oh that... Don't worry, James, it was nothing to do with you. Something about care of magical creatures or something..."

James looked rather suspicious. "After a date, she usually randomly spouts wanting to cancel bets about care of magical creatures? How stupid do you think I am? What was the bet REALLY about!"

Violet looked pleadingly at Remus. He shrugged and gestured at James, who looked livid. She sighed. "Rose and Lily made a bet at the beginning of the year. Rose said that if Lily didn't have fun on one date with you, she'd give her ten galleons. If she did, Lily'd have to pay Rose five and kiss you. Then you asked her out, Lily had an epiphany, realized you were a good guy, and said yes. Rose realized the money-making opportunity and made another bet with Lily. I'm guessing it's that bet Lily wanted to call off. She probably felt bad about being paid to go out with you when it was something that she realized she should have done from the beginning anyway."

James sank into a chair. "She went with me to Hogsmeade.. Because of a bet?"

Violet and Remus nodded apprehensively.

"But at least she really likes me now, right?" James looked so worried and lost.

Violet took pity on him. "Of course she does. That's why she wanted to call the bet off."

Then James' nervousness turned to anger. "Why? Why did she do that? I'm not some experiment rat! How could she have done this to me!"

Violet just stared at him. "I'd save that for after you thought about it more. Go to sleep, James. Lily really likes you. She wouldn't have wanted you to find out about this. I'll tell Rose Lily cancelled the bet."

James got up wordlessly and headed to the Marauder dorm. Remus watched him go. "Lily shouldn't have done that." He said quietly.

Violet nodded. "It wasn't right."

"I think I should go make sure James doesn't kill himself or something. Want to come?"

"To your dorm?"

He gave a funny little half-grin. "Sleepover?"

Violet laughed. "Fine. But only this once."

Remus chuckled. "That's what all Sirius's dates say..."

Violet hit him in the arm.

**A/N:** There had to be at least one nauseatingly fluffy chapter. More Sirius/Keilani behavior to come. Tell me if you want more scheming.


	9. The Sleepover

**Chapter 9:  
**The Sleepover

* * *

Despite what people might have thought from Violet and Remus's previous conversation, a sleepover is what they did indeed have.

Sleeping bags, nail polish, and chocolate ice cream included.

Sirius had even managed to get some firewhisky, which Violet was carefully alloting to James in each bowl of ice cream, chocolate bar, or butterbeer he had. It wasn't long before he was sufficiently drunk for their purposes.

"So, James," Remus started casually, "How are you and Lily?"

To his almost amazement, James practically started sobbing. "She... She only went out with me because of a bet.. She doesn't really love me.. How could she have done this to me..."

He went on like this for several minutes, unaware of the silencing charm someone had put on him. Violet and Remus looked at each other, then looked towards the bed where Sirius was "getting his beauty rest".

Remus was quite sure he'd need a lot more of that than just one night's worth.

Anyway, they looked towards his bed. There was a sudden outbreak of very loud snores.

Remus looked over at Violet. He held up three fingers. She nodded. "Three... Two... One..."

CRACK.

Sirius Black, marauder, prankster, flirt extrordinaire, found himself hanging upside down by his ankles. And nobody wanted to see that after he'd gone to bed.

"Merlin, Sirius! Put some clothes on!"

Remus was split as to whether to take the spell off in order to have him put something on, or to just leave him there. He looked at his girlfriend. She was grinning. "As amusing as this all is, perhaps we'd better pay attention to James."

Leaving Sirius hanging in the air with a silencing charm, Remus found a still silent James glaring at Sirius and, apparently, attempting to do nonverbal spells. Or, to be more specific, nonverbal lethal curses.

He sighed and took the silencing charm off James. "You're so depressed that drinking doesn't help, you can't do nonverbal spells, and are trying to kill Sirius? I know, it's something we all want to do from time to time, but none of us ever really act upon it."

James sank down onto the sleeping bags. He rubbed his eyes, exhausted. "I love her so much.. To think it was all a lie..."

Violet sat down beside him. "James, it wasn't a lie. If it were, Lily wouldn't have wanted to cancel that bet. I think she's always liked you, and only realized it when Rose bet her to go out with you. You should be thankful for that bet."

James snuggled into the sleeping bags, not giving any sign that he had heard her. After a while it was apparent that he had fallen into a deep, if not peaceful, sleep.

Remus looked up at Sirius, who looked ready to kill. Not wanting to become his prey, Remus decided to bind him before letting him down. Sirius continued to glare at him with an almost childish fury. Remus was extremely amused.

"Maybe I'll let you go in the morning, Padfoot."

Meanwhile, Lily was having a lot of trouble sleeping.

_The lights in her dorm flickered and went out just as James burst into her dorm on a broomstick almost in tears. "I loved you, Lily! how could you do this to me!"_

_"James, I never meant to! I.. I love..." But she couldn't quite make the words come out._

_Suddenly James' entire body began to shake and change. He grew taller, and unnaturally thin. His glasses transformed into red cat eyes that gleamed maliciously as his nose became two slits. His broomstick became a wand that he was pointing at her, and he let out a high, cold laugh..._

She sat up in bed, panting. She looked out her window to the almost-full moon. She knew she had to talk to James and tell him the truth, regardless of what the consequences might be.

Though of course, that didn't mean that she wanted to do it.

She decided to wait until morning, then procrastinate as long as possible.

"Oh, screw it..."

She threw on her cloak and headed down the girls' stairs. After surveying the Common Room for signs of James and finding none, she made sure nobody was watching her, climbed the stairs to the "Marauder's Dorm", and knocked hesitantly.

Remus answered. "Yes, Lily? I'm afraid your friend got your lovely boyfriend seriously drunk. He's asleep now, but he'll have one hell of a hangover in the morning."

She sighed. "I need to talk to him. Can I come in?"

Remus chuckled. "Just... Don't look on Sirius's bed. Deal?"

Lily was intrigued. "Deal."

As soon as she entered she looked at Sirius's bed. He was still bound and under the influence of the Silencing Charm, but he was obviously trying to mouth "LILY! HELP ME!"

She doubled over laughing. It was almost enough to make her forget about James- seeing Sirius, clad only in boxers, bound and gagged on his bed. She smirked. "Cheating on your girlfriend with her in the room, Remus?"

Remus turned brighter red than Lily had thought humanly possible. His jaw opened and closed several times before he was able to squeak out, "Me... Sirius... ? Violet...?"

This, of course, only served to make Lily laugh harder.

Remus composed himself. "Lily, you're only here at my invitation, and if you imply again that my and Sirius have... ugh... You're gone. And I'll modify James' memory to make him think you've broken up with him."

"Little harsh, but I get the point. Anyway..." She looked around and saw James lying on the floor unhappily. She flicked her wand and put James onto his bed before sitting down next to him. She raised her wand again, closing the curtains around his four-poster. "Ennervate." Then, on second thought, she pointed at the curtains again. "Silencio."

It took James that second to stir. "...Lily?"

She smiled at him. He looked so innocent asleep. "Yes, James?"

"Why?"

She sighed. "I was being stupid. Rose offered a bet, I could always use a few extra galleons, so I took it. I'm sorry. I... I love you, James Potter. I could never do anything to hurt you."

He sat up slowly and pulled her onto his lap. He kissed her softly. "I love you too, Lily Evans."

They sat there together for a long time, James stroking Lily's hair, until Lily fell asleep, head on his shoulder. He put her down gently, then laid down beside her. Her voice echoed in his head. _I love you..._

A/N: Ah, and another one. Cute, no? keep reviews coming and I'll have more of a reason to update!


	10. The End

**Chapter 10: THE END.

* * *

**

It had been a number of weeks since the bet incident had blown over. Sirius and Rose had broken up, according to the latter, because "they needed to go their seperate ways," as she explained to Lily later. There appeared to be no hard feelings whatsoever between the two, and they could still sometimes be seen sneaking into broom closets together, but only if one really tried, like Keilani had on a number of occasions. Rose explained that they had agreed on a random snog every once in a while. This did nothing to calm Keilani.

Sirius was growing increasingly suave whenever the American girl was around, but she never seemed to notice. They both gave each other lingering glances whenever they thought the other wasn't looking, then caught one another and blushed. The others regarded this with high amusement.

"You know," Remus stated conversationally in Herbology after these incidents had happened at least five times in a row, "At this rate, they might burst a blood vessel in their brain and die together. Modern day Romeo and Juliet."

"Nah." Lily replied in an equal tone. "They couldn't be a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. It only counts as suicide if they both want to die, not if they burst blood vessels."

James and Violet exchanged amused glances. "What do you think people would say if they caught the Head Girl talking about whether or not blushing counts as suicide?"

Lily looked at her boyfriend, who smirked, and replied, "What they'd known all along. I must be at least slightly insane. Why else would I be dating you?"

James looked mildly offended, then thought about it and decided she had a point. Remus and Violet looked at each other and laughed as they watched these the wheels turning in his head. The banter went on for a while before they realized...

"Hey... What happened to Sirius and Keilani?"

They looked toward the table where Sirius, Keilani, Rose, and Snape had been working. Snape appeared to be unconsious on the floor (like usual) and Rose was finishing up the project Lily had done a half hour ago, but Sirius and Keilani were nowhere in sight.

Hmmm...

In the broom closet (where else would they be?), Keilani and Sirius were having a bit of fun.

"So let's go over this plan again... We use a color change on their shampoo, and that's all there is to it?" Keilani looked a bit surprised at the over-simplicity of the plan. "And this has actually worked?"

Sirius looked a bit put off. "Yes... Why wouldn't it?" He was a bit nervous. He hadn't actually used this particular prank before without Moony. Was he doing something wrong?

"Okay!"

If Lily, Remus, or even James had been there, one of them would have explained that by changing the color of their shampoo, it merely changed the color of the shampoo and would have no effect whatsoever on the color of the hair of the Slytherins. Sirius, however, had had a bit too much sugar that morning to realize an error.

He looked over at the American girl. He realized she had been looking at him the entire time. She realized that he realized that she had been looking at him the entire time.

"Screw this..." They were in a broom closet, after all...

And so, they all lived happily ever after. THE END.


End file.
